


Promise of Atonement

by batsy22



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen, Pre-Relationship, exploration of atonement and forgiveness, post cassandra personal quest, romantic undertones but not explicitly stated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:20:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29640114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/batsy22/pseuds/batsy22
Summary: Cassandra reads the Lord Seeker's book detailing the many horrors inflicted by the Chantry. It instills in her a drive to build a better one."Cassandra is an Andrastian at the very core of her being, as such she believes in the possibility of forgiveness, of atonement. But through faith, she knows that these things must be earned. To atone, one must stand in front of the wronged and admit their guilt."
Relationships: Cassandra Pentaghast/Female Trevelyan, Female Inquisitor/Cassandra Pentaghast
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	Promise of Atonement

**Author's Note:**

> tw/cw: short acknowledgment of rape in the Circle of Magi.

Every night in Skyhold, Cassandra reads more of Lucius's book; each time it makes her ill. She wants to toss the damn thing in the fire, along with all its terrible secrets, and forget its existence. But, still, every night Cassandra sits by her bed and reads; it is the least she can do for all the many victims. Once her faith taught her to obey without question. Now, it forces her to acknowledge the truth. 

She reads that the Seekers have always known to reverse the rite of tranquility. She reads stories of the Rite being applied without restriction, to silence dissenting mages and worse. She reads about cover-ups of templars raping young mages, leaving mages to starve forgotten in the dungeons, sending enchanters to the Aeonar without any real evidence of blood magic. Every story is worse than the last, it’s nearly too much to bear. But, she must bear it nonetheless. 

Cassandra is an Andrastian at the very core of her being, as such she believes in the possibility of forgiveness, of atonement. But through faith, she knows that these things must be earned. To atone, one must stand in front of the wronged and admit their guilt. The book has shown that all Seekers are guilty of horrific sin. Her Order, her responsibility. The Seekers are all dead, she is the only one left, and as such the only one who can make things right. 

She occasionally tells these stories to the others, when the burden is too much for her alone. Leliana scowls and adds names to one of her many lists. Inquisitor Trevelyan gets angry, but is never surprised. Cassandra even finds herself confiding to Solas; the elven apostate tells her to remember her faith, but to not separate it from what the Chantry has done.

One night, the Inquisitor tells her to let the Seekers go. Her feelings are not a surprise. For the former rebel mage, the Chantry is fundamentally oppressive, a relic of a bygone age, an institution that preaches intolerance against circle mages and elves. It’s a familiar fight, their antagonism has become comfortable to them both. Cassandra has read some of Leliana’s reports on the Inquisitor’s activities as part of the mage rebellion. Often she has wondered, why would Andraste send a non-believer, a rebel apostate, one who has burned Chantries to the ground, to be Her champion? How could she herself have exalted such a person, handed her power that no one should have? Cassandra herself had told the Inquisitor as much, that night in the armory, when all her doubts suddenly became too much to hold herself. Now, though, when the Inquisitor tells her to let the Seekers go, she listens. 

Cassandra must rip away all illusions, face every horror inflicted by her Order in Andraste’s name, so that she may build a better Chantry. A Chantry where mages govern themselves, the elves are treated as equals, and that works to guide the faithful, rather than vye for political power. She finally begins to understand the Maker’s grand design, as much as any mortal can. Now she sees the value of the rebel who will ceasely critique the Chantry's every fault; who can attest personally to the mistakes of the Circle. Andraste sent the Inquisitor not just to save the world from Corypheus, but to force all the faithful to confront the truth. 

Tomorrow morning, Cassandra will be travelling to the Emerald Graves with the Inquisitor. She inspects her armor, a templar-commander suit she had found in the Western Approach. It has been quite functional for their mission, and at first, that was all that mattered. That night returning to camp, the Inquisitor had scowled at the templar insignia on her chest, made some biting comment about getting her a bottle of lyrium to make it authentic. Cassandra had taken the bait, Varric played mediator, Solas watched amused from the sidelines. It was a familiar fight, a regular occurrence during their travels. 

Around Skyhold, the rebel mages glowered at her even more than usual, but kept their distance. That suited her just fine. Now though, when she sees how they look at her, she thinks about all the stories in Lucius's book. Cassandra stops in the Undercroft, and commissions a new piece of armor; one that bears the Inquisition insignia. If the Chantry must change, so must Cassandra. 

The next morning, she meets the Inquisitor at the Skyhold gates. She looks down at Cassandra’s new armor, at first she seems surprised, but then there is a hint of a smile on her face. Perhaps they do not want the same thing for the Chantry, but if the Inquisitor did, she would not be the woman they needed. 

“I have finished all of Lucius's book,” she says, “I may have discovered another lead on the cure for tranquility. I would appreciate your help investigating, Inquisitor.” 

“If there is a cure for tranquility, we will find it,” says Inquisitor Trevelyan. It’s only a start, Cassandra knows. Atonement, after all, is not given, it is earned.


End file.
